Posted on 05/31/2008 3:10:12 AM PDT by DCPatriot
A large segment of the American Hispanic community has historically shared conservative Republican values, even though today many of them vote Democrat. In fact, a close look at US history demonstrates that Hispanics have traditionally been closer to conservative Republican values than to those of the Democrat Party.
The GOP needs to establish a clear agenda to reach and mobilize these millions of American Hispanics who are not getting the conservative Republican message. Their presence in the party and their vote is critical and it is still today a swing vote up for grabs. Democrats should not assume that American Hispanics are part of their base. But Republicans should understand the need to act quickly.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
According to a 2005 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, 77% of American Hispanics oppose abortion. Thus, the Democrat Party is anathema to the values of the American Hispanic community in terms of life issues.
According to the 2005 National Latino Survey, 62% of American Hispanics oppose gay marriage and 48% of registered voters in that same community agree that lowering taxes is the best strategy for encouraging economic growth, as compared to 12% who thought raising taxes is the best strategy.
It is true that American Hispanic voters are not firmly attached to either party, and they have voted in sizable numbers for GOP candidates who appeal on values that American Hispanics share.
Unfortunately, and with the exception of the Reagan years and the Bush 2004 re-election campaign, the GOP has not yet figured out how to attract American Hispanic voters...not by abandoning core beliefs or by pandering to non-conservative Republican issues, but playing to their strengths.
It seems to me that the REpublican Party is somewhat mixed on “What to do...?” about appealing to Hispanics and appealing to the White Working Class.
It’s as if the leadership feels they can have one, but not the other voting Republican.
No such thing as American Hispanic Mind.
It’s either an American Mind or an Invader’s Mind.
There are 3 ways for a nation to die.
1) Declining Core Population
The ethnic population makeup of America remained almost constant from the founding of our nation to the 1960s. It’s different now.
2) Loss of values.
News is not news anymore, it is distraction. More attention is paid to Brittany, Madonna, Tom Cruise, and Rosy than to actual meaningful news stories.
3) Unopposed Invasion.
This means our borders and the hordes of invaders crossing them each day to displace our native born population.
Unless these invaders have an American Mind. Being from Texas I would suggest that many Mexicans already have a very American Mind. They watch the same sports, drink the same beer, drive the same cars and trucks and have the same values of hard work and love of God. Ever notice Hispanics always drive American?
The problem lies in the Dems ability to make them believe Americans hate them and get them on the government dole. The last thing any Dem wants is for Hispanics to feel American because they will be similar in patriotism to any good Southern boy.
My heart and mind is changing on this illegal issue. Not because I feel sorry for them or think they deserve special treatment but because I have had quite a few conversations lately with some who, once we get through the language barrier, are quite engaging and sincere.
People like Geraldo Rivera, who are Latin Supremacist still piss me off and stir up my anger, but the working class guys that I am around are nothing like that millionaire tool.
I will return to treating each person as an individual. Fear and ignorance on both sides are driving this wedge between white and brown.
I live in rural Maryland, and up until a few years ago, I can say that I never personally noticed the impact of illegals in my own community.
I see them all the time now when I coffee up in the mornings at the local 7-11. What I see is men. Men who do not appear to be attached to families or wives. It seems to me that they are here to work. They don’t speak english, appear to have no interest in doing so and, compared to Salvadoran immigrants that I encountered 15 years ago when I lived in Annapolis, seem hostile, confrontational and basically impolite to myself and others. I seriously doubt that they have any kind of opinion on life issues.
First, these people are NOT Americans, so they should not be allowed to vote.
Secondly, I dont believe these people will ever become values voters. Conservatives who think that they will are simply kidding themselves. Ive heard this theory before and it is so weak; people who break the law to get into our country will suddenly become values voters?? What a flawed strategy.
When I travel to the nearest town, where my son has his scout meeting, I attend Mass at the church that the pack is affiliated with. The liturgy in the evenings is in spanish and it is pretty well attended by very nice folks and families. I believe that these communities could become values voters, but they seem few and far between and very different compared to the lone wolves that I regularly see at the convenience store and out working in various places..
Its definitely a catch-22, because I really dont believe that we should be reaching out to foreigners as values votes, but it seems like theyre here to stay, so why not get them up and running a good citizens. In any event, it seems to me that the more conservative of the 2 parties is making overtures to these folks. John McCain is certainly not shy about that. Hell do as he wants.
Values voters; Christians, will continue to reach out to individuals either way and despite politics, but its a very flawed outlook. The Hispanic population is the new victim class. Theyll vote Dem.
I was shocked and told him "I thought these guys were hard working dudes"
"Hell no man there are jobs out there, these guys don't want to work" he replied.
The point is there are illegals who come to work, get jobs and try to live the dream and raise their families and there are illegals who are lazy pieces of chit. We see this is true in the white community too.
The point is that we need to reach out to working class Hispanics in general. The illegals can't and for the most part wont vote and those that do will vote Dem. There is however a major voting bloc of Hispanics who have families and work hard and drink beer on Saturday, go to church on Sunday and watch the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon. They live around these illegals every day and see what is going on. These people need to be pursued and convinced they are Republican at heart. They cannot be lumped in with illegals and we can't let the Dems turn this into a white vs. brown thing.
WTF are you talking about?
All the hispos around here drive Hondas or some other Japanese car.
They don't care about football but rather, watch futbol.
My heart and mind is changing on this illegal issue. Not because I feel sorry for them or think they deserve special treatment but because I have had quite a few conversations lately with some who, once we get through the language barrier, are quite engaging and sincere.
Yes, they are engaging and sincere in that they know that to push your buttons might cause you to report them. I guarantee behind your back they don't love you and would rather you forget they are invading your country.
I will return to treating each person as an individual. Fear and ignorance on both sides are driving this wedge between white and brown.
Wrong! The point of the wedge is created at the moment they cross the border illegally. The wedge broadens when they demand concessions to our laws.
It broadens when they demand spanish forms to collect welfare and use OUR govt. services.
And the broadest point of the wedge is when they march in OUR streets demanding that we ignore the fact they ARE invaders here in OUR country illegally.
Illegal immigration is nothing more than a way for businesses & politicians to privately benefit while socializing the true underlying cost structure.
The only good thing about it is that it will hasten the collapse of the entire edifice. (You think the low productivity levels of illegals will generate the necessary economic output required to keep the game afloat?) Problem is, the nation by then will have a new composition AND a bankrupt government.
Right. Sure. Bush did that. He created this mess we are in by all the promises he made them in his campaign prior to 2000. They all thought they were going to get a slice of the golden goose.
Even that only got Bush 44% of the hispanic vote.
The only way to get a higher percentage is to promise them more. The hispanic block is looking for concessions and handouts. It's what they are used to.
It's a much more accurate assessment of the problem.
Isn’t there, generally speaking, a big difference between Hispanics who have escaped the tyranny of Cuba, and those Hispanics who sneak across the Rio Grande in the dark?
Not there aren’t former Mexicans or Guatamalans who are good, legal American citizens.
Just an impression.
I am talking about Hispanics and not illegals. These two groups cannot be lumped together and there are far more Hispanic Americans than illegals. Every Hispanic guy I know is a huge Cowboys or Raiders fan, they don't watch futbol but football. They mostly drive Cheby's but some drive Fords. None drive Japanese.
I do not feel sorry for illegals at all but I see Republicans from some states lumping Mexican Americans into the illegal pot and it's stupid.
A very good friend of mine's dad told him "every thing that is f'd up in America and divides us can be traced back to Democrats" and this guy is Mexican. He also is ex Army. Look at the Army and Marines. There are huge numbers of Hispanics in those branches.
You are a white guy living in a place that has little diversity so the illegals stand out like a sore thumb, but in Texas there are illegals and then there are Hispanics (or Mexicans).You grow up with them go to school with them, play on the same football team as they do. Oh you may not attend their sisters 15th birthday celebration but you wave as you walk by the house.
My point is the Dems want to lump all Hispanics into the same group so they can divide America along racial lines. They have succeeded with blacks even though many blacks are pretty conservative. We can't let them do this with Hispanics.
Go after the Hispanic vote based on issues, especially family issues, tax issues and patriotic issues. Ignore trying to woo illegals but give Hispanics a choice based on Party platform.
Oh, for crying out loud! Changing the law to accommodate the illegals is not "strengthening" the immigration system. It's about as liberal/socialist as you can get.
The liberals are always advocating softening of the rules to gain votes. It's exactly what this guy proposes.
I doubt that. Any given day at work I can talk to a Columbian, Peruvian, Guatemalan, Ecuadorian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chilean or Argentinian. Some legal, most not.
It makes no difference to me where someone is from. What is bothering me is that when we talk about immigration, both legal and illegal, it ONLY about hispanics. Where is the discussion about Poles, Germans, Irish, Asian or even Russian, etc.?
The hispanic lobby has taken over the debate about immigration. Anyone who opposes immigration change at all is now labeled racist. Why?
Why do we continue to focus on hispanics in the immigration debate?
The Declining Diversity of Immigrants
Allowing one race/culture to be the major, if not only source of immigration, will not bolster the strength of the U.S. It will only convert us into another "latin nation".
You clearly visited my home page. Do you agree with Bush that we are to become a "new America"? One where "Our future cannot be separated from the future of Latin America."?
I don't.
I don't doubt there some true conservative hispanics in the U.S. I have not met any.
When Castro came to power, it was the educated, productive class of Cubans who fled and came to America. They became Republicans. But the current wave of immigrants coming from places like Mexico and other points south are the uneducated, lower classes who don’t care about liberty issues or values issues, they just want a Hugo Chavez type “leader” who will take from the “rich” and give goodies to them.
Note that the Mexican government is actually encouraging its poor & uneducated citizens to leave Mexico and come here. In other words, the Mexican elites are dumping their chronic welfare classes and criminal classes on us. This is a far cry from the doctors, scientists, religious leaders, and business leaders we got when Castro came to power.
Strange, Mexican-Americans it seems have traditional American values of hard work and family while white, non-Hispanic, Americans have de-evolved into Swedes.
A large segment of the American Hispanic community has historically shared conservative Republican values, even though today many of them vote Democrat
So this author is saying that even though the Democrats are antithetical to those *values* the "American Hispanic Mind* will vote for them anyway.
The GOP needs to establish a clear agenda
What would that agenda be?
They’re getting the message but like the Black community, they don’t care. Most church-going, Black Americans have conservative values but in their mind, MONEY and ENTITLEMENTS TRUMP MORALITY.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.